Dogs of Brussels – Emma’s love story in Brussels Park

Dogs of Brussels is a series of articles about dogs who come to Brussels to spend a day in the park. Every dog has a special story and here is the second one.

My name is Emma and I’m a two-year-old mix of Labrador and Springer Spaniel. I am a medium-sized dog who was born in Villers-la-Ville, a small village in the region of Wallonia. In the village you can see the ruins of the Villers Abbey, one of the most important Cistercian abbeys of Europe. It was founded in 1146 and the Romanesque and Gothic vaults are of some of the biggest archaeological sites in Belgium.

Now I am living a big city life in Brussels. Every Sunday my owner brings me to the Brussels Park to have a stroll. Today is just a normal sunny Sunday compared to what I experienced a month ago. I have the pleasure to tell you that I fell in love with a cute Brussels Labrador.

I was walking near the old wooden kiosk of Brussels Park, which is currently called the Radio Kiosk and is the first independent internet-based radio station of Belgium. The city of Brussels invested in a public competition in 2017 to revitalize the park. The best new idea for the kiosk won.

Anyway, the amusing music from that kiosk didn’t attract me as much as the dog that I fell in love with. I had a stick in my mouth and when I saw that handsome Labrador in the distance, I dropped it. It was love at first sight. After we met, we played together and got along like we knew each other from a previous life. People said that we looked like a couple.

Every time I come back to this park, I hope to meet him again. There are also other good options to go for a walk in Brussels. My favourite place is the Bois du Laerbeek forest. The forest was founded in the 11th century and it’s called Laerbeek because there used to be an abbey where monks produced stones in a place called Laer. By the way, the Cathedral of St. Michael in Brussels was built with those stones.

The forest is in the Northwestern part of Brussels, about nine kilometres from the centre. There I can practice my passion, which is chasing rabbits. One thing I also love to do is digging holes in my owner’s garden but apparently, I should stop doing that. I still believe it’s the best way to sharpen your nails, don’t you think?

In addition to that romantic story before, I am also having a deep relationship with my owner. I am always with her and that is a good combination because I can make her feel safe and at the same time, I don’t have to be alone. Every morning, when she wakes up, I know that it is time to hit the road. We usually drop her daughter at the bus stop and I am waiting patiently for them in the car. I am used to traveling by car because we often drive to Portugal. Then I really have to find a good position to sleep because it is a long way to the southern sun.